Andrew came back on Sunday. Last night we shared a bottle of red wine at dinner. Not an expensive one. Just one of those gifts I received a couple of months ago. A Chilean G7 2007 Reserve. Good rich colour. The right amount of tannin. A really good and enjoyable evening.
He brought back Haitink's CSO B7. I haven't listened to Haitink's Bruckner for quite some time. He is now one of the few Brucknerians to reckon with.
Haitink is one of those few who can tame the mammoth of Bruckner's orchestral writings. For some conductors, it seems that the music flings them around with its ebbs and flows; they just can't control it. Bruckner's symphonies have been described as existing in sound blocks, a much quoted cliché. However, Haitink can smoothen them into a large landscape with undulating mountains and valleys. He just has the knack to join these "blocks" almost seamlessly. When we listened to this B7 together, I was happy that Andrew could discern one of Haitink's tricks. He is now quite familiar with B4, B7 and B8 already, having listened to them countless times in his dorm. Haitink tends to resort to a rallentando towards the end of a theme, which gives you an impression that the present theme will not come to an abrupt halt before the next theme gets off. In other words, he employs a fading-out method to maintain a sense of continuity. His gift is that all these do not sound unnatural, thanks in part to his avoidance of a fading-in. The next theme comes to life at once, and this will not make the transition too artificially protracted. His Bruckner is smooth and soothing, and not haunting, the latter being the best attribute on a day when I'm not in the mood for some dramatic contrasts. It is like a bottle of mellow wine.
As for this recording, taken from live concerts in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, Chicago on 10, 11, 12 and 15 May 2007, Haitink's soft approach was nicely balanced by the rather bright Chicago brass which adds some much-needed rigidity and jaggedness to the reading, and without which the whole musical architecture would have been too soft-focussed for the listener to discern clearly.
Other niceties of Bruckner Andrew brought back home include B4 (1989), B7 (1984) and B8 (1981) by Klaus Tennstedt and LPO in the latter's own label. All were live recordings of single concerts made by BBC Radio 3. All are warmly welcomed additions to my Bruckner archive. Andrew is showing some delicacy of taste now.
PS (20 Jan 2010). Thanks to the comments by Eaquson from Taiwan, I'd like to add some of my experience with Haitink's Bruckner. In fact I've been following his Bruckner for a long time.
In the 1980s, he recorded B3, 4, 5 & 8 with the Vienna Philharmonic on Philips. At that time a full cycle with this orchestra was anticipated, but it eventually did not materialise. Then came a long period of no new Bruckner recordings from him until the recent couple of years when several live recordings were released.
His recordings of B8 become a special case for him as his earliest recording with the CO on Philips was troubled by a very brisk tempo. His later recordings with the CO (again), VPO, then Staatskapelle Dresden were getting better and better.
As for this recording, taken from live concerts in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, Chicago on 10, 11, 12 and 15 May 2007, Haitink's soft approach was nicely balanced by the rather bright Chicago brass which adds some much-needed rigidity and jaggedness to the reading, and without which the whole musical architecture would have been too soft-focussed for the listener to discern clearly.
Other niceties of Bruckner Andrew brought back home include B4 (1989), B7 (1984) and B8 (1981) by Klaus Tennstedt and LPO in the latter's own label. All were live recordings of single concerts made by BBC Radio 3. All are warmly welcomed additions to my Bruckner archive. Andrew is showing some delicacy of taste now.
PS (20 Jan 2010). Thanks to the comments by Eaquson from Taiwan, I'd like to add some of my experience with Haitink's Bruckner. In fact I've been following his Bruckner for a long time.
In the 1980s, he recorded B3, 4, 5 & 8 with the Vienna Philharmonic on Philips. At that time a full cycle with this orchestra was anticipated, but it eventually did not materialise. Then came a long period of no new Bruckner recordings from him until the recent couple of years when several live recordings were released.
His recordings of B8 become a special case for him as his earliest recording with the CO on Philips was troubled by a very brisk tempo. His later recordings with the CO (again), VPO, then Staatskapelle Dresden were getting better and better.
my feirnd (who's a record seller)say the B7 of tennstedt issued by LPO may be over engineered.we listend it throughout and he said that the sound is sometimes very clear but vogue in most of the time.the dynamic is also very strange,some climax are a little too smooth,which is contracted to tennstedt's style(i may not judge it properly since i've only listened 2 weitblick recordings before. can u tell me your opinion about this recordings? thx
ReplyDeleteeaquson from tw
Dear Eaquson,
ReplyDeleteNice to hear from you again.
I've listened to this B7 once only. I may have to listen to it again after what you said. The definite thing of this recording is that there is a quite prominent tape hiss. The acoustic of the venue, RFH, has much to do with the sound picture of this recording. I suspect that this CD and also the B4 may be "restored" from a private tape made during the broadcast, and hence the somewhat unsatisfactory sound. Maybe I'll go into a little more detail in a later post.
Thanks for the comments.
Best regards,
Horace
thx for reply.
ReplyDeletei'm really interested in haitink's bruckner nowadays and have listened to several broadcast files. i like his b8 with WPO before,and i think b8 may be his warhorse. after the good experinece of his b7 with skd on Proms,i read this article and happily see what you said about haitink's "strategy". i don't think it's easy to carry out and the overall result is worth noticeing. i listen to his b9 with RCO (2009.3.8)and find his idea about bruckner is much more complicated than i thought before. 'hope i can come back with more ideas about his bruckner later.
eaquson from tw.
Dear Eaquson,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your listening experience of Haitink's Bruckner.
Please see my PS of this post.
Best regards,
Horace